1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for delivering media to multiple exhibitors. Particularly, the present invention relates to such systems and methods for use in digital cinema applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
The methods by which movies and other media programs that are distributed to theaters for display to audiences have not substantially changed in over 75 years. Celluloid copies of such movies are distributed to each theater in advance of the first showing, and the same copy is repeatedly displayed for audiences until the movie is excessively worn, the license expires, or the theater stops showing the movie in favor of a more popular movie.
There are several problems with this process. First, the process of manually and securely distributing physical celluloid copies of each movie is costly. Second, it is time consuming. This is especially important in circumstances where last minute changes must be made to the film before release. Such time concerns often prohibit that any such changes be made.
There is therefore a need for a method and system for distributing media programs in a rapid and inexpensive manner. As will be described further herein, the present invention solves that need by providing for the distribution of digital copies of media programs via a satellite or other high bandwidth medium. For example, digital cinema systems provide the ability for distributing digital copies of motion picture “films” electronically directly to theatres running exhibitor systems.
However, the use of digital cinema systems presents additional challenges. For example, every movie produced or distributed in the United States must be rated by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for content according to moral viability. A movie is deemed acceptable for a particular demographic group depending on the MPAA rating that the movie is assigned. Current MPAA ratings include General Audiences (G-All Ages Admitted), Parental Guidance Suggested (PG-Some Materials May Not Be Suitable for Children), Parents Strongly Cautioned (PG-13: Some Material Maybe Inappropriate for Children under 13), Restricted (R-Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian), and NC-17 (No One Under 17 Admitted).
The MPAA rating affects the advertising and the kinds of audiences that the movie attracts, which in turn can result in significant fiscal and cultural losses for the content generator. These losses can be ameliorate it somewhat by creating different versions of the film, each directed at different viewer demographics. For example, a movie may be marketed in R, PG, and G versions, allowing the producers/exhibitors of the movie to reach as many viewers as possible, and maximize return.
Further, before being shown on broadcast television, many movies must be edited to remove/alter content so that the film complies with the social norms required for a network broadcast. In some circumstances, even among films broadcast on television, different versions may be appropriate depending upon when the broadcast actually takes place. For example, a movie broadcast at 7 p.m. may have significantly altered content, while a movie broadcast at 1 a.m. may not.
Today, content is broken into reels; image, audio and text (subtitle) reels are usually separate with splice points for corresponding reels during authoring or production. When the film is delivered to the exhibitor, it is delivered with an attached “manifest”, which lists how the reels are to be combined to produce the “title.” The manifest therefore acts as a guide for recombining the reels at the exhibitor's site. Each title uses a separate and different manifest than any other title. Different versions of the same content (i.e. a PG-Rated Version, a Japanese language version) of the same content are different “titles” with unique manifests, thus they are independently stored, marketed and distributed.
For example, a Chinese PG-Rated version of movie is treated as a separate movie/title and will require separate packaging and delivery as the original English PG-20 Rated version. If an “R” -rated English version of the same movie is distributed elsewhere, it will also be treated as yet a third title and require its own packaging, and distribution. If N MPAA Rated versions of a movie were to be distributed in N languages, it would require N*N independently packaged and distributed titles or movies.
This is real estate intensive and logistically difficult to implement. So much so, in fact, that few distributors/exhibitors engage in the practice of handling different movie versions. This results in exclusion of content from many markets, and incremental losses over thousands of such exclusions worldwide can result in significant loss of revenue.
What is needed is a method and apparatus for providing different versions of media programs to distributors/exhibitors in a timely and cost efficient manner. The present invention satisfies this need.